Deepology

To Conform or Not to Conform; that is the Question!

Recently at a holiday Dinner at my grandparent's house my mother and Grandparents both took turns telling everyone stories about me an how bad I was when I was younger. How I never wanted to do what I was told to do, even when it was something that was for my benefit like trying on new cloths. Looking back and comparing the younger me to the man that I have become, I don't see it as having been bad, I see it as having the mind set of: "just don't tell me what to do, and everything will be fine."

Even at an early age, I had my own mind and my own way of doing things, and I didn't take kindly to interference. I've always "bucked" authority; authority standing for the ultimate conformist, because in order to obey you must submit, and to submit is to give in, and to give in is to give up. That was something I was never really good at. That having been said, I have noticed in my adulthood that the vast majority of people are conformers and conformists. But the guys like me; the minority, individuals who want to do their "own thing" and have their own identity often face ridicule.

Don't misunderstand where I'm coming from, I'm not breaking any laws, or kicking old lady's cats. I'm not a "Habitual Line-Stepper" like Charlie Murphy accused Rick James of being. I just want to do "my thing" my way; period! I have often bumped heads with folk over this issue over the years. Me; as long as what you're doing doesn't step on my toes, I could care less!

Being an "individual" won't make you The President of the company you work for or the top graphic designer of that company, it won't even make you the hottest rapper of an existing record label, but it can make you all of those things for the company that you own, run, and built from the ground up. Being an "outcast" or an "individual" only makes you stronger and motivates you to succeed, and if that's the price I have to pay for originality and strength then that's my "cross to bear."

Something to think about:

Wikipedia.com defines conforming as: the act of consciously maintaining a certain degree of similarity (in clothing, manners, behaviors, etc.) to those in your general social circles, to those in authority, or to the general status quo. Usually, conformity implies a tendency to submit to others in thought and behavior other than simply clothing choice. The key word that I would like to point out to you is "SUBMIT."

Anytime that you submit to someone else's will you lose a part of yourself, because you are not being who you want to be, or who you see yourself as "being," you are being who they want you to be. How can you know who you are if you have become someone other than yourself? e